Friday, May 23, 2014

In Memorium, Fredrick Assmus January 6, 1946-October 14, 2012

This week, the letter “F” is dedicated to the memory of a true friend
and advocate for Middle Atlantic Archaeology, Fred Assmus. Sharon, Fred’s loving
wife and partner of thirty-three years, donated the Assmus Collection in the
summer of 2013 to The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Section of Archaeology. Transported
in over sixty boxes and three travel display cases, the collection embodies
over fifty years of volunteer service to avocational archaeology associations
in the tri-state region of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. In 2007, Fred
was recognized as the Archey Award recipient by the Society of Pennsylvania
Archaeology, Inc. (SPA)
for his significant lifetime contribution to the society. He remained an active
chapter member of the Incorporated Orange County Chapter of the New York State
Archaeology Association (IOCCNYSAA),
serving as a Trustee, program chair and as Treasurer in the later years of his
life after relocating to Middletown, NY.

A husband and wife team, Sharon continues their legacy as a
leading member in the IOCCNYSAA, acting as program chair for annual banquets,
securing speakers for chapter meetings, and organizing community outreach
events. She was elected to the office of correspondence secretary and has
served in this position for numerous consecutive terms. Both Fred and Sharon
have received many accolades for their years of service to the Orange County
Chapter, and have been honored with membership in the “order of the trowel” at
annual recognition events.

Fred’s love for natural history and prehistoric cultures began at
an early age when his family moved from Brooklyn, NY to the scenic town of
Milford, PA in the Delaware Water Gap. As a young boy, Fred and his brother
collected fossils and prehistoric artifacts from the banks of the Delaware River
and its local tributaries. Bill Leiser, a high school teacher and member of the
Lenape Chapter 12 of the SPA, took the budding amateur geologist and
archaeologist under his wing when Fred was in his teens. Fred joined Mr.
Leiser, David Werner, Lyman Vandermark, William DeGraw and family, and other
chapter members to survey and excavate sites endangered by the Tocks Island
Reservoir Project throughout the 1960s and 1970s. As he came of age, Mr. Assmus
served as Treasurer for the Lenape Chapter for many years.

Fred
Assmus excavating at the Zimmermann site in the 1960s.

The bulk of the Assmus collection is from the Lenape Chapter’s
undertakings in PikeCounty, Pennsylvania and Sussex County, New Jersey. Donated materials of
significant number were received from the Zimmermann (36Pi14), Eshback (36Pi8),
Snyder (Schneider- 36Pi40), Davenport (28Sx27), Minisink Island (28Sx28), Bell-Philhower/Bell-Browning
(28Sx48), and Herring (28Sx428) sites. For more information regarding Lenape
Chapter 12 excavations, the Werner Collection, and the Zimmermann site
(36Pi14), visit our previous tribute to David Werner.We are currently processing the Assmus
collection in the lab, ensuring its preservation for future research.

Cataloged
artifacts from the Assmus collection directly link to documents from Lenape
Chapter excavations donated with the Werner and DeGraw collections in 2004 and
2006 respectively. Pictured above is a fishtail point (FS No. 169)Fred recovered
from the Zimmermann Site (36Pi14) and its associated records.

A proposed rotating exhibit in the Archaeology Gallery will also
highlight the contributions of the Lenape Chapter 12 excavations. It is our
intention to pay further tribute to Mr. Assmus by including several of his
reconstructed prehistoric vessels in honor of his interest in steatite bowl
morphology and Woodland Period pottery.

The Garoga vessel above, recovered from Sussex County, New Jersey,
was a particular favorite of Mr. Assmus. An example of Iroquoian influence in
the Upper Delaware Valley, its presence supports the view that the Upper
Delaware was a dynamic middle ground for cultural interactions between local
Algonquian cultures and neighboring Iroquois prior to and during historic
contact with European settlers (Stewart, 1993). Garoga decorative motifs are ascribed
cultural affiliation with proto-historic Iroquoian village sites in New York
State. The type site, on which the Garoga cultural phase was defined by Ritchie
(1965; Ritchie & Funk 1973), is located in the Mohawk Valley. Pottery from the Upper Delaware Valley excavated
from proto- Munsee contexts distinguishes itself from other Late Woodland
Algonquian pottery found on sites in the lower Delaware Valley and coastal
region. The stylistic choices of high, castellated collars and incised geometric
designs—vessel morphology and decorative motifs that mimic Iroquois pottery
types (Kraft, 1986: pp. 146-149; Leslie, 1973)—further suggest cross-cultural
influence and interaction in the region between these two peoples of different
linguistic origins.

Fred shared these interests at chapter meetings, public outreach
events and archaeology conferences, generously displaying his artifacts and
speaking on topics of local prehistory whenever called upon. He was a further
resource to professional archaeologists and historians, contributing his
knowledge and providing images of his artifacts for publications. Amanda C. Batko, township historian at
Montague, Sussex County, NJ, lists Mr. Assmus among her acknowledged mentors in
her 2009 local historical account, Images
of America, Montague. The Garoga
vessel pictured above as well as a Munsee incised reconstructed vessel were
featured in Kraft’s 1986 publication, The
Lenape (Fig. 36h,f: 150). Additional vessels and stone tools from the
Assmus collection are also pictured in Kinsey (1972), Archeology in the Upper Delaware Valley). Link to our Pike County blog for more
information relating to the archaeology of this collection and to see replicated
figures from The Zimmermann site report (Werner 1972: 55-133). The Munsee
incised rim from the Davenport site (Fig. 36.2) is part of the Assmus
Collection.

Fred Assmus
sharing his collection at an IOCCNYSAA function in 2008, image courtesy of
IOCCNYSAA.

Fred’s warm hearted presence, enthusiasm and dedication to historic
preservation are dearly missed in the archaeology community. We are proud to
carry on his spirit and intent at The State Museum of Pennsylvania through the
preservation and celebration of his collection and its significant contribution
to our understanding of prehistoric cultures in the Upper Delaware Valley.

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One Tank Trip

WFMZ-TV 69 from Reading, Pennsylvania visited The State Museum of Pennsylvania on February 8th, 2017. Karin Mallett prepared a feature piece on great places to visit that are one tank of gas from Reading and our gallery was the focus of this visit. Karin interviewed Kurt Carr, Senior Curator and Janet Johnson in the gallery and provide a nice overview of the spectacular exhibits. Please click on the link below and enjoy this glimpse of the museum during this One Tank Trip!
One Tank Trip: Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology

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